![]() But such lyrical interpretations of the wonder of Bach’s music are not even Siblin’s main thrust. “ can charmingly and empathetically convey the sweet sounds of a live performance through the medium of black marks on a white page-which, ironically, is exactly how Bach’s music was first conceived. Bach, and their mutual obsession with the sonic possibilities of the cello.” -Scott Horton, Harper’s Magazine “Eric Siblin has captured an extraordinary romance-that of Pablo Casals, J.S. a charming narrative.” - The Seattle Times Siblin’s writing is most inspired when describing the life of Casals, showing a genuine affection for the cellist.” -Elliot Mandel, Booklist (starred review) In Siblin’s history of the composer, Bach is far from the stuffy image often applied to classic music he appears restless, brash, and proud. “Included in his thorough research are interviews with cellist such as Mischa Maisky and Anner Bylsma. “The ironies of artistic genius and public taste are subtly explored in this winding, entertaining tale of a musical masterpiece…Siblin is an insightful writer with an ability to convey the sound and emotional impact of music in words.” - Publishers Weekly Awesome.” -Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun-Times Best of all, The Cello Suites makes us want to pop in a CD and really listen to those cello suites. “This is rich terrain, and Siblin’s book is an engrossing combination of musical and political history spiced with generally vivid descriptions of the cello suites themselves. The Cello Suites is a journey of discovery, fueled by the transcendent power of a musical masterpiece-and of the listeners who, like Siblin, have loved it through the ages. Casals would play the suites every day for twelve years before finally performing them in public-and making them his own.Īs Siblin pursues the mysteries that continue to haunt this music more than 250 years after its composer’s death, he asks the questions that have stumped modern scholars: why did Bach compose the suites for the cello, which was considered a lowly instrument in his day? And what happened to the original manuscript of the suites, which vanished after being hastily copied by Bach’s second wife? To their amazement, they found Bach’s lost “Cello Suites” tucked in a dark corner. His search to learn all he can about the music leads Siblin to Barcelona, where Pablo Casals, just thirteen and in possession of his first cello, roamed the back streets with his father, in search of sheet music. Part biography, part music history, and part mystery, The Cello Suites weaves together three dramatic narratives: Bach’s composition of the suites and the manuscript’s subsequent disappearance in the eighteenth century Pablo Casals’s historic discovery of the music in Spain in the late nineteenth century, and his popularization of the suites several decades later and Siblin’s own infatuation with the suites at the dawn of the twenty-first century. So began an epic quest that would unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. One evening, not long after ending a stint as the pop music critic at the Montreal Gazette, Eric Siblin attended a recital of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Cello Suites.” There, something unlikely happened: he fell deeply in love with the music.
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